Titans review: “51%” is a turning point for the series
The latest episode of Titans is a milestone episode that signals a big shift in the action. Jonathan Crane’s true reach is revealed while relationships shift among the Titans. “51%” is a turning point for the team, and the fallout will be felt moving forward.
The team needs to track down Jonathan Crane (Vincent Kartheiser) after a night of terror that leaves several people dead across Gotham City. Barbara (Savannah Welch) calls upon Dick (Brenton Thwaites) because she needs his help tracking down the Scarecrow. This leads to the resurrection of Oracle, the all-knowing and all-seeing computer system.
Bringing Oracle online is problematic for Barbara, who doesn’t approve of the system’s ability to operate on both sides of the law. Particularly troubling is Oracle’s ability to scour private information without a warrant. (Incidentally, this is something that Lucius Fox took issue with in The Dark Knight, when Batman used private cell phone data to track the Joker)
The new episode of Titans is a major turning point for the season and the series
Vincent Kartheiser might have caused trouble on the Titans set, but he’s absolutely brilliant as Jonathan Crane. It becomes more and more evident that he’s pulling all of the strings even when Red Hood (Curran Walters) thinks he’s calling the shots.
Soon, Jason sees that he’s not in control of anything. For the first time since debuting as Red Hood, Jason starts to see how vulnerable he is and that he isn’t as clever as he thought. Crane has a plan and Jason plays right into it without knowing; once he learns that Crane had wanted him to go rogue, it changes everything.
When Crane hacks into Oracle, Barbara decides that Oracle must be destroyed, but that, too, is part of Scarecrow’s plan. What Scarecrow doesn’t foresee is how well Dick and Barbara work together. They put their minds together and do some old-fashioned analog detective work, reminding everyone where they came from.
Kory (Anna Diop) and Blackfire (Damaris Lewis) finally come to an understanding. Blackfire explains why she killed their parents and Kory starts to see how leaving Tamaran set off a chain reaction that placed her sister in the crosshairs of an angry mob that didn’t understand why she chose Earth over her home. With this new insight, the sisters bury the hatchet (sort of) and work together, and it actually turns out pretty well.
The little details make this episode fun, like Crane being holed up in a snow cone factory. The massive warehouse is full of ice cream trucks and the smiling face of a clown, and when he makes his getaway it’s in a tricked out ice cream truck. It’s just cartoonish enough to remind viewers that this is a comic book story, but the action (and copious amount of gore and violence) keeps it from teetering into camp.
With Dick and Barbara getting closer (again), and Kory and Blackfire mending their relationship, the stage is set for an even stronger Titans team working to bring down Scarecrow and Red Hood. But now that Jason sees that he’s just as much a pawn as everyone else, Red Hood might be looking to change teams in the near future.
The stage is set for Crane’s next move. The Titans have worked out most of their internal issues and there’s no doubt in their minds that Crane and Red Hood must be stopped. But can they outsmart a villain who knows everything about them? Only time will tell.
Next. Interview with Titans star Savannah Welch. dark
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